Page:Nihongi by Aston.djvu/215

184 Be, the jewel-workers' Be, the Kami-osaka Be, the Hi-oki Be, and the sword-wearers' Be—the Be of ten articles altogether—were granted to the Imperial Prince Inishiki.

These thousand swords were deposited in the village of Osaka. They were afterwards removed from Osaka and deposited in the shrine of Iso no kami. At this time the God made a request, saying:—'Let the person named Ichikaha, of the family of the Omi of Kasuga, be made to attend to them.' Therefore by the Emperor's command, Ichikaha was caused to attend to them. He was the first ancestor of the Mononobe no Obito."

87th year, Spring, 2nd month, 5th day. Inishiki no Mikoto spake to his younger sister, Oho-naka-tsu-hime no Mikoto, saying:—"I am old, and unable to have charge of the divine treasures. Henceforward thou must have charge of them." Oho-naka-tsu-hime refused, saying:—"I am a feeble woman. How can I ascend to the divine storehouse of Heaven?"

Inishiki no Mikoto said:—"Although the divine storehouse is high, I can make for the divine storehouse a ladder. How, then, should it be hard to ascend to the storehouse?" Hence the proverbial saying, "You can ascend even to the divine storehouse of Heaven, if you only plant a ladder." This was its origin. Ultimately Oho-naka-tsu-hime no Mikoto gave them to Mononobe no Tochine no Oho-muraji, and made him to have charge of them. Therefore the Mononobe no Muraji retain charge of the divine treasures of Iso no kami up to the present time. The above was the origin of this practice.

Formerly in the Land of Tamba, in the village of Kuwada, there was a man whose name was Mikaso. Now, in Mikaso's house there was a dog, by name Ayuki. This dog bit a wild animal called the mujina, and killed it. In the animal's belly there was found a magatama of Yasaka gem. This gem was